Somewhere out in America, it is starting to rain….

April 13, 2015

Somewhere out in America, it is starting to rain….

The rain that had been threatening New Orleans came down in a fury about midway through the qualifying session for the first Indy Car race at NOLA Motorsports Park. At first it wasn’t too bad, and it allowed for the rare occurrence of Indy Cars running in wet conditions, using special road course rain tires, but after about twenty minutes the rain became too heavy and it pretty much canceled the qualifying session.

Marco Andretti

Scott Dixon

With qualifying canceled, it meant that the starting line-up for the race would be determined by owner points. Since only one race had been run, the season opener at St. Pete, the starting line-up was basically the same as the finishing order of that race which meant that Juan Pablo Montoya would start in the pole position, having won at St. Pete.

Jack Hawksworth

Simona DeSilvestro

While the rain-out was disappointing, the good news is that I got to hang around in the pits and paddock during the rain delay and got to watch both a dry practice session and the initial qualifying that was held under rainy conditions. I love watching the Indy Cars running in the rain, the huge rooster-tails of water that the cars kick-up and the slick conditions make the driving both exciting and dangerous. I’d never want to see anyone hurt, but watching the cars slide around the corners is thrilling, and they seem to spin off with great abandon.

Kate

Graham Rahal

Sebastian Bourdais

Once it got too bad though, they correctly called it a day and I headed back in to town to take in more of the culture and entertainment of the French Quarter Festival and other music around the city. The rain did not stop the music and it did not dampen the enthusiasm of the hardy music fans of New Orleans.

Hinch

Kathy and I made our way to the famous Tipitina’s club to watch a set by Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes in the historic venue. Johnny Sketch has played Key West at the Parrot fairly often, including a number of memorable New Year’s Eve gigs in the past. They are one the many of New Orleans up and coming musical acts and their set at Tipitina’s did not disappoint.

Johnny Sketch

There was a packed crowd and they (and we) loved the set. It was a true New Orleans experience and we were thrilled to be there, even if by the late hour they were playing we were both pretty tired. We stayed as late as we possibly could remain standing after about ninety minutes of the set, and when we left the band showed no signs of stopping any time soo

On the way home we stopped at District Donuts, Sliders and Brew, which was right next to our favorite breakfast spot in New Orleans, the amazing Stein’s Deli. These two amazing places in one spot is almost enough to consider relocating to the Garden District by themselves. Amazing food, amazing setting and must visit stops for anyone traveling to the Big Easy.